15th July 2020 - Love is not proud

​APC 15th July 2020                 “Love is not proud”
 
Welcome and Introduction
Good morning everyone and welcome to our midweek worship.  Today we continue our reflections on what it really means to love.  This is probably the most important subject for us to understand and with God’s help to put into practice.  We have already discovered that true love ‘is not selfish’ that ‘it keeps no records of wrongs’ and that ‘it is not jealous’. Today we will be meditating on the truth that ‘love is not proud’.  But as always, let’s begin by talking to God. Let’s pray…
 
Prayer
 
Great and wonderful God we come before you in humility, in awe, in faith, in hope, in love, in worship
 
In your mercy hear our prayer
 
We come to praise you, to bless you, to adore you, to acknowledge you, to thank you.
 
In your mercy hear our prayer
 
We come recognising you power, your authority, your wisdom, your faithfulness, your goodness, your love.
 
In your mercy hear our prayer
 
We come confessing our weakness, our unworthiness, our faults our failings our faithlessness, our lack of love.
In your mercy hear our prayer
 
We come seeking your mercy, your guidance, your strength, your renewal, your inspiration, your word.
 
In your mercy hear our prayer
 
We come to commit ourselves to your service, your purpose, your Kingdom, your will, your people, your world.
 
In your mercy hear our prayer
 
Great and wonderful God, we come to you now in the name of Christ.  Receive the worship we offer this day,
 
In your mercy hear our prayer
 
 
Lord’s Prayer
 
Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name,
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us,
And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil,
For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever and ever, AMEN.
 
 
 
 
 
Bible Readings      
Proverbs 16 v 18
“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Proverbs 3 v 34
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
 
1 Corinthians 13 v 4-8                   The Nature of God’s Love
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  8 Love never fails.
 
Reflection                       “Love is not Proud”
As you may or may not know I’m originally from a place called Lisburn which is not too far from the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland.  If you’ve never been to Belfast I would thoroughly recommend a vacation there once places are open again for business.  In recent years one of the most popular tourist attractions has become the Titanic Centre.  There you can find out the history behind one of Belfast’s most famous feats of engineering – the RMS Titanic.
This was the largest and most luxurious passenger ship of its time. The ship’s keel was laid on 31st March, 1909. For the next twenty-six months, the workforce of Northern Ireland’s most celebrated ship building firms - Harland & Wolff’s labored to construct her massive hull. This flagship vessel of the White Star shipping company would have both reciprocating steam engines and a turbine engine to power the center of Titanic’s three propellers. In addition, she was equipped with a double-plated bottom and sixteen watertight compartments on the hull of the ship with doors that would close if water entered them allowing the Titanic to stay afloat.
Three thousand carpenters, engineers, electricians, plumbers, painters, master mechanics, and interior designers fit Titanic with the latest in marine technology, and the most extravagant fixtures and furniture. Once finished she was not only the pride of Belfast, but also of much of the world.
On June 1, 1911, the Irish News and Belfast Morning News contained a report on the launching of Titanic’s hull. The article described the system of watertight compartments and electronic watertight doors and concluded that Titanic was practically unsinkable.
In 1911, Shipbuilder magazine published an article on the White Star Line’s sister ships Titanic and Olympic. The article described the construction of the ship and concluded that Titanic was practically unsinkable.
One passenger Margaret Devaney said “I took passage on the Titanic for I thought it would be a safe steamship and I had heard it could not sink.”
Another passenger, Thomson Beattie, wrote home “We are changing ships and coming home in a new unsinkable boat.”
Phillip Franklin, The vice president of the White Star shipping company said this- "There is no danger that Titanic will sink. The boat is unsinkable and nothing but inconvenience will be suffered by the passengers."
There’s no evidence to suggest that anyone ever boasted using the words, “Not even God could sink this ship” as the Hollywood movie would have us believe.  Nevertheless, sadly the pride of many was not enough to prevent the sinking of this ship on its maiden voyage with the consequent loss of hundreds of lives.
They say that pride comes before a fall.  Often that fall brings hurt not only to ourselves but also to the people around us.
It’s because of this reality that in writing to the Christians in the city of Corinth that St Paul reminds them that ‘love is not proud’.
You see, the Corinthians had divided themselves up into little groups or cliques within the church.  Each group prided itself on being more spiritual than any other group.  This opinion was largely based on the particular preacher that they most admired. “We follow Paul”, some boasted.  “We much prefer the teachings of Peter” retorted others.  “Well, we are much more spiritual”, said a third group.  “We only follow the teachings of Christ!”
Their spiritual pride had created so much division and hurt within the church that people were arguing and fighting among themselves.  Paul knew that if this was not rectified soon, they would simply implode and would sink without a trace.
So he writes to them with a warning – “You need to start loving and appreciating one another again.  That will mean swallowing your pride.”
You know, if we’re honest, all of us struggle with pride.  If we find that hard to admit, that in itself is all the evidence we need!
If we don’t recognize our pride and if we don’t take steps to change, then we will inevitably end up hurting ourselves and hurting the people who love us most.
The problem is pride is not always easy for us to spot.  So what are some of the warning signs?  Well I’m going to ask you a few questions and as I do, I want you to answer them honestly inside.
Do you find it hard to admit that you are wrong?
Would you rather speak or listen to others?
Are you a taker or a giver?
Do you trust or doubt people?
How easily do you ask for advice?
Are you more likely to criticize or encourage?
Do you hold grudges or forgive?
How do you react to constructive criticism?
Do you enjoy diversity and celebrate different ideas?
Are you fearful or at peace?
Are you more likely to ask or to tell?
Do you find it easier to blame or to apologize?
Are you more likely to assume or try to understand?
How easily do you find it to let others decide or take the lead?
Do you regularly say, ‘Thank you’ to others and to God?
How often do you ask God for help?
 
If you’ve been honest with yourself, by now you should have been able to notice a few spots of pride.
So what are we to do?  How can we get rid of the rot of pride that threatens our happiness and personal relationships?
Well, may I suggest the Monty Don approach to Clematis.  I learned it while watching Gardener’s world with mum during the week.  Apparently if your Clematis has ‘wilt’ the only solution is to cut it right down to the ground.  It seems drastic, but because some of the stem remains underground, the new growth will be completely healthy.
If we are to stay on top of the pride in our lives the only solution is to humble ourselves by literally bringing ourselves to the ground as we kneel in prayer.  There, as we ask God to show us ourselves as we really are, He will remind us again that we are sinners, that we actually deserve only His judgement and that everything we have whether that’s our wealth, our looks, our intelligence or anything else, ultimately comes from Him.  He will also remind us that despite our constant waywardness, He still loves us with an unconditional and everlasting love.  A love so great that he Himself in Christ took our judgement upon Himself so that we might be set free from our guilt and liberated to think more of others than ourselves. 
It’s only when God humbles us in this way that we will find most security in ourselves and a peace and contentment that will set us free from the need to think that we are any better or any worse than anyone else.  Living like that will mean living in love.  That way we will be less likely to hurt ourselves or the people around us.  I hope you do take a trip to Belfast some day and before you go, book yourself into the Titanic Centre.  As you read the story of this marvelous ship remember… “True love is not proud”…
 
Prayer
Sovereign God, we confess to you with shame that sometimes, all too often, we have been guilty of the sin of pride.  We have thought of ourselves more highly than we should, boasting of our own achievements and looking down on those around us.
Have mercy upon us.
We have not listened as we should to your voice, or to the voice of others, believing that we know best, preferring our own way, trusting in our judgement alone.
Have mercy upon us.
And we have been guilty of pride in more subtle way, trying to be independent of those around us, hiding our frailties behind a mask of self-sufficiency, denying our fears and refusing support when it has been offered.
Have mercy upon us.
Sovereign God forgive us when we try to live life alone, when we think more of ourselves than of you, when we put ourselves before others.
Have mercy upon us.
Give to us true humility and true lowliness of heart – the ability to take proper pride in ourselves where it is due, but a willingness also to listen to your voice and the voice of others, accepting our faults, recognizing our limitations, confessing our mistakes and recognizing that ultimately all we are and have is a gift from you.
Sovereign God, Have mercy upon us.
 
Take a few moments to pray for others…
 
Closing Words
 
It’s been a joy and privilege to share with you again today.  Thanks again for logging on.  Don’t forget we are planning to reopen our church on Sunday 26th July.  You should have received an email from us last week.  If for any reason that hasn’t come through to you please do contact us as soon as possible to let us know.  That email contained 3 attachments – a letter outlining all the plans for safe return to church, a letter from our treasurer and our Covid 19 policy which we need you to sign and return by email or else bring with you to church on the first day you return.  I want to say a huge thankyou to our leadership and our committee who have put in an enormous amount of work behind the scenes to enable us to return to church safely.  I also want to thank Alison and all the choir members for all their fantastic recordings and Dave for all his uploading of services to the website and Facebook.  Thanks also to Tara who will be preparing a special activities pack for each of our young children which they can use during our Sunday services.
 
I do hope that many of you will feel confident enough to come to church on the 26th.  Please do read through my letter of guidelines a few times so that you are familiar with all the protocols.  I know it’s going to be different for a while but it’s another step forward and it will be special to be able to meet and worship together again all be it in a socially distanced way.
 
We have put in a lot of effort to make reopening possible so it would be a great encouragement to me to see as many of you as possible there.  You can be sure that every step has been taken to make our church a safe environment for everyone who is able to attend.
 
The service will only last about 40 minutes but I will try to make it as engaging for us all as possible using interactive and pre-recorded readings, choir pieces and prayers on the screen as well as live reflective pieces of music and video clips for the kids.
 
For those of you who are still in a vulnerable category and are unable to make it, there will be a recorded service online at 10.00am as usual.
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s reflection on the nature of Christian love.  Please do spend some time in quiet over the next few days asking the Lord to show you the areas of your life where you are struggling with pride which is causing you or others hurt.  This will be my last Midweek recording for a while.  I will need more time next week to finalise all the details for reopening as well as planning and coordinating the extra elements for the reopening service on the 26th.  I hope you’ll join me again online this coming Sunday as we reflect on another characteristic of true love. In the meantime, let me lead you in a benediction after which I invite you as always, to say the grace together…
 
Benediction
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…
 
And May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and for evermore, Amen.”